Fire out: Calvià residents breathe a sigh of relief

The army of forest fighters and volunteers who battled the Calvia forest fire through Wednesday night and in to yesterday morning, managed to bring the blaze under control by 10.30 am. Calvia council sources reported that the fire was under control shortly after 10.30 and that the full extent of the damage is around 80 hectares. All of the 150 people evacuated from the 70 houses on Wednesday afternoon, as the fire, which started in Son Font, was at its peak and moving rapidly towards Calvia village, managed to sleep the night at home. What is more, the 200 plus firemen, police and volunteers who fought the flames on the ground with massive aerial support from helicopters and planes flown in from the mainland, managed to protect all of the endangered houses from the fire. None were seriously damaged although a handful of gardens were badly scorched as the fire got dangerously close to some properties and in one of the villas, the windows cracked under the heat. Extra police remained at the scene and in the town on Wednesday in order to help any residents. They also stayed to monitor the situation to make sure that, once the evacuees had returned home, the fire did not switch back or pose a new threat to the village. Police have also launched an investigation in to the cause of the fire. The exact cause has yet to be confirmed, however there are strong suspicions that the blaze was caused intentionally and police have said that the investigation will be “exhaustive.” There was still plenty of activity in the fire zone yesterday with members of the IBANAT Balearic Nature Institute, the aerial fire fighters and firemen trying to extinguish the blaze. Yesterday two helicopters, an “airtractor” and dromadair fire fighting plane buzzed the area throughout the morning dousing the smouldering scrub land.